Tony Almeida spies on Stokes and his men as they load up a truck of RP-7 fuel. He is contacted by Renee Walker and Jack in the FBI. Jack tells him that the President called off the air strike on Starkwood to destroy the bio-weapon for lack of confirmation of it. Tony says that he might know why the President really called it off. He explains to them that he saw Hodges' men loading RP-7 rocket fuel and that she must have been blackmailed by Jonas Hodges, since RP-7 is used only to launch missiles. Tony tells them that he has 3 charges of C-4 and a remote detonator. Jack instructs Tony to go into the depot and place the charges to destroy the missile tanks so Hodges will not have leverage to use the President.

The President is approached by Tim Woods in Oval Office. He says that the Joint Chiefs are beginning to question her decision of calling off the air strike on Starkwood. She simply tells that she needs more info on the bio-weapons. She also tells him that Jonas Hodges is coming to the White House and to make sure as little people as possible know about it. Tim walks out when she receives a call from Jack Bauer. He says that she called off the air strike for another reason. She tells him that she needs more information about the weapons before she can authorize any action on them. Jack tells her that Tony Almeida spotted Hodges' men loading RP-7 and that its one use is for fueling missiles and that is obviously blackmail. Jack begs her to confess and she tells him what happened with the threat. She also says that since he is exposed to the weapon there is not much she can threaten him with and that she trusts he will do what he thinks is right.

Renee questions what the President meant by saying that. Jack says that she is trying to send them the message that she wants them to go in with Tony's plan but is not exactly authorizing it. Jack goes to continue the operation.

01:08:55

Hodges and Seaton arrive at the White House

Jonas and Greg Seaton arrive at the White House to meet with President Allison Taylor. Jonas tells Seaton that he did a good job at making Almeida look like he was on his side, saying he was brave. Tim Woods shows them into Oval Office and Hodges thanks him.

Renee calls Larry and tells him of the operation. Larry says he will wait for the explosion that Tony will cause until he sends in his teams. Jack, Renee and Janis Gold get on comm. with Tony. Jack reviews with Tony what he will do. Tony moves in preparing to take out the missiles.

01:10:55

Stokes and Galvez ready the fuel for the missiles containing the pathogen. Galvez says that he will take a look around the perimeter. When Stokes asks why, he says they can't be too careful. Tom Chapman calls Stokes. He tells Tom that the missiles are ready. After getting off the phone, Tony appears with a hostage. Stokes puts down his weapon while Tony knocks out the guard taken hostage. Tony puts him at gunpoint and orders him to lead him to the fuel tanks.

Hodges and Seaton are brought in to speak with the president. He says that Starkwood is an organization that is trying to defend the United States of America and now they have to defend themselves. He says that he wants Starkwood to be involved in all making of government operations and there should be a fifth branch of the military involving them. Seaton hands her a booklet explaining their demands and protocols they want. When she objects to it, Hodges tells her that that it is what the organization deserves and reminds her what will happen if she fails to comply to his demands.

01:21:24

Tony fights with Stokes when the missiles are launched

Tony begins planting the C-4 charges with Stokes handcuffed to a pole. After he is done he uncuffs Stokes and they go back up to the surface. Suddenly, another guard attacks Tony from behind starting a huge hand to hand fight between them. The detonator drops into a drain nearby. Tony manages to over power the guard but Stokes sounds the emergency alarm.

The missiles explode

Chapman sees the alarm which convinces him to launch the missiles. The technician entering the launch code stops him and suggests it might have just been a false alarm. Chapman says that it's protocol. The technician refuses to act until they are sure they're not killing innocent people for nothing. Tom shoves him aside and enters the launch codes himself. Tony sees the shafts opening up. Stokes tells him that he is too late before Tony knocks him out. Tony goes over to the drain, reaching for the detonator. Eventually retrieving it, he presses the detonator and then runs for cover, causing a massive explosion which destroys the missiles. Larry and his teams see the explosion and move in to seal off the Starkwood compound.

In the FBI, Jack, Janis and Renee get a visual on the explosion via satellite.

While going over the protocols for the booklet Hodges provided the president, the president is called out by Tim Woods. Hodges tells Seaton that she is not going to comply with their demands. Seaton tells him that he did well. Woods tells Taylor that the FBI destroyed the missiles containing the bio-weapon. Secret Service agents then walk in and arrest Hodges and Seaton. Hodges is infuriated by this. She tells him that his missiles were destroyed and that he is a traitor and terrorist to the United States of America. He tells her that she will be sorry for what she is doing and will face what will happen. Before being taken into custody, Hodges claims that he is simply "a small cog in a big machine". As President Taylor asks him what that means, Hodges responds "you'll find out."

The President gets on the phone with Jack at the FBI. She thanks him for all the hard work he did. Jack brings up that if it were not for Tony Almeida they would not be in the position there are in when all of a sudden he forgets what they were talking about. She reminds him of the discussion and agrees to take Tony's actions into consideration then gets back on track. Jack thanks her before quickly hanging up to go see Doctor Macer.

Larry and his men lock down Starkwood and put Tony into custody. He tells Tony that he is sorry he has to go through this after everything he has done to help them. However, knowing that Tony will fully cooperate with his arrest and not flee anymore, Larry orders Tony to be uncuffed while remaining in his custody during the chopper ride back to FBI Headquarters.

Jack explains his symptom of memory loss to Dr. Sunny Macer. She tells him that that is perfectly normal and is one of the symptoms of the disease. She also says that he may go through personality changes that affect his behavior and to an extreme point, it can cause him severe hallucinations.

01:36:52

Renee approaches Jack on his way out of Dr. Macer's office. He tells her that he needs to go on record with the days events as soon as possible. Renee tells him that his daughter has arrived. Jack is shocked, grabbing her arm and taking her into a room. He is enraged with Renee for dragging his daughter into his situation after he instructed her not to. He says that Kim is the whole reason he would ever want to live and that he accepted the fact that he was dying right until now. As Jack is about to storm out, Renee tells him that she and no one else brought Kim into it. She says that Kim has been looking for him all day and that she was at the Senate hearing in the morning but missed him once he was taken by the FBI. Jack pauses, disbelieving that his daughter had been looking for him. Eventually he agrees to see her.

Renee takes Jack to a lounge where Kim Bauer is waiting. She asks him if he is doing alright with the exposure. He tells her that everything is okay even though he hasn't been doing very well. She tells him that she has been hiring private investigators and going through the State Department, doing everything she could to find him. Jack apologizes to her saying that he thought staying away from her was for the best since he thought his work would put the people he cares about in danger, and Kim apologizes to her father for pushing him away. Kim tells him that she is willing to go with the procedure of the stem cells to save his life. Jack reminds Kim that there is a risk to her own life but she tells him that it is a very small risk and she would do anything,

Jack breaks down after his daughter leaves

so long as she doesn't lose her father. They hug each other but Jack begins to suffer a spasm and asks her to go. Kim reminds him again that she loves him. Jack breaks down after she leaves the room.

01:47:35

An FBI agent prepares to leave in his truck from Starkwood. He is suddenly shot by Galvez, armed with a pistol, who was outside the explosion zone. FBI Agent Davis approaches him at gunpoint and tells him to get down. Davis searches through the bag Galvez had and finds a canister of the bio-weapon inside of it. Davis calls Larry Moss and informs him. While Davis is distracted, Galvez overpowers him suddenly and shoot him twice, killing him. Larry demands for Davis to pick up. Galvez grabs his duffel bag and steals the agent's car. Larry calls Renee at FBI and tells her that a Starkwood Commando may be in possession of a bio-weapon canister that may be enough to take out a small city or town. Larry and Tony get in their chopper.

Larry and Tony follow Galvez in the chopper. Renee has Janis track the transponder of the stolen vehicle. Galvez parks the car and is now on foot. Larry has the pilot, Miller, land the chopper next the stolen car. Galvez suddenly kills Miller while Tony and Larry take cover. They fire back and forth. After Galvez grabs his shotgun, he hits Larry in the abdomen. Tony goes over to check him out. When Larry tries to warn Tony that Galvez is behind him, Tony orders Galvez to stand down, revealing his deceit. Tony tells Larry that he is sorry and grabs his mouth and covers his nostrils, suffocating him. Larry's eyes widen in shock at Almeida's betrayal.

Split screen: Hodges paces in his cell. Jack prepares to be interviewed. Larry is in the process of dying from suffocation.

Tony lets go of Larry, who has stopped moving. Galvez shows him the canister of the bio-weapon. Tony instructs him to go find a safe place to hide while he waits for the FBI to arrive.

Jonas Hodges tells PresidentAllison Taylor to think of Starkwood as the "fifth branch of the military." There are, in fact, already 5 branches of the United States military—the Army, the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard.

During the helicopter chase scene, an ARCO gasoline station and 'am-pm' convenience store can be seen. Neither of these companies operate in the DC Metro area but are prominent in the Los Angeles area, where filming took place.

The writers were very disappointed with having to trim the extended version of Kim and Jack's visceral conversation due to finding it the most vital scene of the entire episode.